CHAPTER FOUR
THE ACCOMPLICE
Ron had arrived home later that evening via Floo. He cleaned up and waited in his room while his mother prepared dinner. He wasn't quite ready to deal with Ginny and her Dean obsession just yet and wanted some alone time with Flying With the Cannons. He hadn't gotten far when there was a knock on the door.
"Ron, are you in there?" Ginny called from the hall.
"What is it, Ginny? Is dinner ready?"
"No, I just wanted to talk." She replied.
Ron rolled his eyes and stuffed his book back under his pillow. "Ok, come on in." He sighed.
His sister entered quietly and sat on the edge of the bed next to him. She looked at her feet and quietly waited.
"Well?" Ron asked impatiently.
"Well what?" She retorted.
"I thought you wanted to talk?" Ron asked as his ears started turning red.
"I do, but I don't want you to kick me out because of what I want to talk about." She said quietly.
Ron sighed. Why can't she just talk away like normal? "Just go ahead, I won't kick you out."
"Do-do you think that Harry might be interested in me?" She asked out of the blue.
"What?" Ron said with surprise. "I thought you gave up on him!"
"I did, but I still wonder..." She admitted. "I mean, he hasn't made any move outside of Cho and I don't think he really likes her that way."
"What happened to Dean?" Ron asked quietly after he put a comforting arm on her shoulder.
"Oh, I don't think we're cut out to be together." She said after a moment. "We have some things in common, but he seems more interested in Parvati than in me."
"What did he do?" Ron said hotly. "I'll wring his neck!"
"Calm down, Ron." Ginny said after a moment. "We had a talk and it came out that he fancied Parvati, that's all. He's known that I've liked Harry since before first year and I don't think we really took dating seriously."
Ron nodded. So, I don't have to worry about him then. He sighed quietly. "I don't think Harry likes you in that way, Gin." Ron admitted quietly. "I think he looks at you like a sister because he views me as a brother."
Ginny nodded quietly.
"I guess the reason he hasn't seen how pretty you are is because we're almost like family, you know." Ron said tenderly.
"You think I'm pretty, Ron?" Ginny said with a smile. "That's the first time you've acknowledged that I'm a girl."
Ron blushed. "I've always known that you were a girl, Ginny!" He said quickly. "I'm just not used to other guys getting all mushy on you."
Ginny giggled. "Well, you're going to have to get used to it sooner or later, Ron. I mean, I'm going to be sixteen soon and before you know it, I'll hopefully be married with children."
Ron shuddered. "Please don't put pictures in my head!" He groaned. "I still see you running after us on the train when I was in first year!"
They both laughed. "Well, you should update your mental photos then, Ron." Ginny said after she calmed down. "And you should start growing up too. When are you going to start paying attention to girls? Hmm?"
"How'd this get pushed onto me?" He said after his initial shock. "There's nobody who's really caught my eye! Well, maybe Hermione, but that wouldn't work and I look at her more like a sister now than anything else. Anyway, she's interested in someone else and I don't think I compete there."
"Oh, she told you that she likes Harry then?" Ginny said with a sly smile.
Ron's jaw dropped to his chest. "How did you know?"
"It's rather hard to sleep in the same room with someone who talks in her sleep." Ginny said with a slight blush rising in her cheeks. "Not to mention the way she perks up when he's around ... Or how she responds to his name ..." She said quietly until she seemed to be deep in thought.
"What's wrong, Ginny?" Ron asked quietly.
"Do you think that Harry likes Hermione, Ron?"
"What?!" Ron asked dumbfounded. How does she know? "What gave you that Idea?"
Ginny smiled softly. "Well, I just remembered how Harry pays attention to her. Remember when we were at the Department of Mysteries? He grabbed her and ran. Nobody else, just her."
"He didn't abandon anyone else!" Ron said hotly.
"Oh, I know that." She said quickly to calm her brother down. "It's just ... He seems to brighten when her name is mentioned and his smile seems just a bit more genuine when they're joking around. There's no other explanation."
Ron gulped involuntarily. Well, they asked me not to tell the other, they didn't say anything about Ginny. "Um ..." Ron began. "They do like each other." He said after a moment.
"They do? Did they tell you?" Ginny asked quickly.
"Yeah, Hermione sort of slipped up and then Harry told me in a letter. They're both too stubborn for different reasons and won't admit it to each other." Ron explained. "Don't tell them that I told you!" He hissed quickly afterwards.
"I won't tell them." Ginny said with a smile. She stood and got ready to leave. "Thanks for cheering me up, Ron."
"Uh ... I did?" Ron asked blankly.
Ginny laughed. "Dinner should be ready in a few minutes if I'm right." With that, she turned and left the room.
Ron looked after his sister suspiciously. She's planning something. He thought as he mulled her reaction to the news in his head. I don't know what it is but I should ask Dean for that favor while I can ...
"RON! GINNY! DINNER IS READY!"
"COMING, MUM!" Ron responded habitually and he heard Ginny do the same from her room.
Dinner at the Weasleys' happened as it always did, though Ginny was less talkative this time. Ron kept glaring at her from across the table when he wasn't answering questions about how Harry was doing or how things went in Diagon Alley earlier.
"Cho actually kissed him?" Ginny asked with wide eyes. "In the middle of the store?"
Ron nodded. "She did, but Harry turned her down almost immediately." He decided to leave Hermione's reaction out of this rendition. "But we didn't have time to go to the cimena because Hermione lost track of time at Flourish and Blotts." He shook his head. "How can someone love books that much?" He added with a grimace afterwards.
Ginny giggled. "You have to admit that Hermione is a singular girl."
"Mum, did you hear anything about Harry being able to leave earlier this year?" Ron asked after a moment.
"I'm sorry, dear. Dumbledore didn't think it was safe yet." She shook her head. "I think we'll have to adopt the poor boy if he's ever to get away from those awful muggles."
"Do you think I could go see him then? I mean, not go to their house, but meet him somewhere close by?" Ron asked hopefully.
"Ron, you know I'd love to let you, but I'm afraid you don't understand muggle England well enough." Mr. Weasley said with a frown. "Maybe when you're older or if Hermione is with you, then you could go to Surrey for a visit. And that's only if those muggles don't know you're coming. I'm sure they'd chain him in their attic if they knew wizards were coming to see Harry."
"But Dad, what if we stopped by as an excuse to check up on him, that'd be ok then, wouldn't it?" Ron retorted.
Arthur Weasley shook his head. "I'm sorry, but the Order has that covered. You'll be seeing Harry soon enough." He said in a tone that made the decision final.
Well, I'll have to go about it a different way then. Ron thought as he excused himself and went upstairs.
He shut the door and sat at his makeshift desk.
How am I going to pull this one off? Ron thought to himself. He looked at his desk and drifted off into Quidditch plays and imagining himself as the keeper for the Chudley Cannons when there was a soft knock on the door.
"Yeah?" He asked half-heartedly as he crossed off more x's and o's on his parchment.
"Can I come in?" Ginny asked quietly from the other side of the door.
"Sure." Ron said absentmindedly.
His sister stepped through the door and crossed to the bed for a seat.
"So, how are you trying to get them together?" She asked suddenly.
"What?" Ron said coming out of his thoughts.
"You are trying to get Harry and Hermione together aren't you?" She asked again.
"What would make you think that?" Ron asked a little too quickly.
"Well, you seemed a little distracted at dinner and you really tried to get Dad to let you go visit Harry. From our conversation earlier, I'd say that you were trying to find some way to get them together." She explained matter-of-factly. "You did say they were too stubborn to admit it, right?"
Ron marveled at his little sister. "When did you start thinking like Hermione?" He said with a grin.
"I don't. I just know you." She said with her own grin. "So, what have you tried to do or what are you planning to do?"
Ron shook his head. Well, maybe a little help might move things along ... He thought. "Well, I was going to try and get them into a muggle cimena to watch a romantic movie." He admitted. "I thought they might see something in the other and figure things out without me having to tell them."
"That's a bit subtle for you, Ron." Ginny smiled. "But Harry is kind of dense when it comes to romance or have you forgotten his encounters with Cho?"
Ron laughed. "You're right. Why didn't I remember that?"
"Because, like Harry, you're dense when it comes to romance." She said with a laugh. "Neither of you can tell when a girl likes them."
"There's a girl who likes me?" Ron asked with a very curious look on his face. "Is it Lavender?"
Ginny looked at Ron like he'd grown an extra head. "You are pretty dense aren't you?" She said incredulously.
Ron laughed. "Knowing my luck, it's probably some brainiac from Ravenclaw!"
Ginny smiled. "You never know, Ron." She chided.
Ron shook his head. "Anyway, back to the current problem at hand. Harry and Hermione like each other and they can't get past their stubborn fears."
"Well, why don't we start there? What does Harry fear about this?" She asked.
"Harry's problem is rejection. He doesn't want to tell Hermione and then she push him away. You saw how she acted whenever Cho was around or another girl was interested in him." Ron explained.
"Well, we know why she was that way, don't we?" Ginny said with a smile. "How about Hermione's fears?"
"She's afraid that she's not Harry's type. You know, he'd probably go after the girls who are into Quidditch or whatnot ... She doesn't think he'd go for someone like her." Ron said with a grin. "I know, I know, we know that she's wrong, but let her admit that and we'd be here for awhile." Ron laughed.
Ron looked up at Ginny. "Do you think Dean might be able to help us out?"
"What?" Ginny looked puzzled.
"Well, I remember one time when he offered to forge Harry's uncle's signature for the Hogsmeade permission slip." Ron whispered quietly. "What if he could do the same thing with Harry's and Hermione's handwriting?"
"Why on Earth would you want to do that?" Ginny asked incredulously.
"Ever hear of a secret admirer?" Ron said with a sly grin.
Understanding dawned on Ginny's face. "You mean, we write letters to Dean who sends them under the guise of Harry and Hermione but anonymously?"
Ron nodded vehemently as he rubbed his hands together.
"You look evil when you do that, Ron." Ginny said with an equally sly smile.
"I do?" He asked brightly. "That's good!"
He laughed maniacally for effect and Ginny giggled along with him.
"Alright, I'll owl Dean tonight, tomorrow, if he agrees, we begin PROJECT: SECRET ADMIERER!" Ron said with a large grin as he pulled out pen and parchment and scribbled the letter to Dean hurriedly.